Cruise tourism is a relatively new form of tourism, but researchers in the
field agree that this specific form of tourism is one of the most dynamics. They also
remark that, despite this, the academic literature is rather poor and many relevant
topics necessary for a good understanding of this phenomenon are not yet
approached by researchers. The present paper aims to reflect the place of cruise
tourism both in the frame of tourism sector, and in the academic literature on
tourism. The investigation of the evolutions of tourism in the last years shows that
the rhythm of development of cruise tourism slowed down compared with the
growth of tourism sector in general. Since the 1980s, when the cruise tourism
registered a significant development, the academic interest also increased
continuously. The current interest in cruise tourism is significantly smaller than in
other forms of tourism. The paper investigates only the research included in highimpact academic journals on tourism. Most researchers investigating this specific
form of tourism come from South East Asia (especially China and Hong Kong),
followed by European researchers, despite that most of the cruise tourists come
from the United States. The topics investigated in top-indexed tourism journals refer
mostly to tourists’ behavior.